


Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited

by moodyme



Series: The Magic of the Shining Skies [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam-Centric, Air Force, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, M/M, Misunderstandings, NASA Astronaut Adam Parrish, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, POV Multiple, Pilot Adam Parrish, Slow Burn, Time Skips, gratuitous use of air force slang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-03-19 21:26:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18978676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodyme/pseuds/moodyme
Summary: The 'Adam joins the Air Force and eventually becomes an astronaut' AU that no one asked for but I wrote anyway.Chapter 1 - Blue and Adam (Blue POV)Chapter 2 - Adam in the Air Force (Helen POV)Chapter 3 - Ronan and Adam (Ronan POV)Chapter 4 - Astronaut Adam (Adam POV)





	1. Bravo Lima Uniform Echo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is entirely self-indulgent and only happened because years ago I almost joined the Air Force as an Officer but was too short to be a pilot and also because I took a break from college and also I couldn't stand the moral maneuvering I was doing to try and justify my joining the military , sorry.  
> Chapter warnings: Referenced canonical child abuse, brief underage drinking, reference to recreational marijuana usage, two characters work at a dispensary.  
> Thanks for reading!

 The first time Blue Sargent sees Adam Parrish, she doesn't know who he is. She is walking past a group of Sophomores when one of them begins talking about the JROTC kids training across from them. Blue hadn't really noticed them before, though she would sometimes see them in uniform. She didn't know any of them and didn't care to know them. But. But one of the boys doing push-ups caught her eye, and she found herself focusing on him. Watching him. He was interesting, in a vague sort of way.

 Later, she joins JROTC herself as a way to rebel against her mother, despite having no interest in ever joining the actual military, and is introduced to him. Cadet Private Adam Parrish is different. He want's to join, eventually. This saddens her in a way she can't quite articulate at 14 years old. 

 'I want to get into the Air Force Academy,' He tells her as they head for PT, three months after Blue joins up. 'Become an officer in the Air Force.'

 It isn't the first time he tells her this, but the way he says it now, with a purple, green, yellow,  _ugly_ , bruise healing across his left cheek, there is a certain gravity to it. A determination in it. Blue hums an answer, she doesn't know what to say.

 'I want to fly,' He continues, 'Not a regular airplane, not like a commercial pilot, but something that could break the sound barrier, or something.'

 'Like in  _Top Gun_?' Blue asks. Adam's face screws up a little at this. He looks like he maybe want's to say 'no', but he doesn't. He just shrugs.

 

 

 Within the first month of Sophomore year, Blue is ready to quit JROTC. She had only joined out of spite and rebellion, and the rules and the training and the structure grate on her nature of independence. Also, she doesn't care for having to wear the uniform every Tuesday. They are leaving their Tuesday morning meeting when Blue tells Adam that she intends for this to be her last. Adam bemoans not getting to be able to call her Cadet Sergeant Sargent, the joke letting her know he must have seen this coming. Their new SAI, Ret. Col. Dean Allen calls to Adam just as they reach the gym's doors, asking him to stay behind. Blue allows herself a quick glimpse to Adam's right arm, the one he's been favoring all day, before looking at Adam's face. He is looking at Col. Allen, his expression blank. She can hear him mutter something under his breath, but he doesn't ask her to stay behind and wait for him.

 He doesn't make it to their shared third period Math class. Nor is he at lunch. She waits outside his fifth period English class, but he never shows. When the final bell rings, she makes a beeline to the bike racks, where their bikes should be right next to each other, but Adam's bike is already missing. Blue feels like she might scream. She kicks the bike rack instead, immediately regrets it when pain shoots through her toes to her foot to her leg.

 She cycles home in a foul mood. And worried. She doesn't really trust Col. Allen, doesn't like the way he had acted around her mother last week when they had met. She really didn't like the way her mother had acted in turn. There is a car she doesn't recognize parked on the curb in front of her house, which isn't unusual given her mother and her aunts and various other pseudo family members line of work, but she notices it. Inside is quiet. Which is unusual, and cause for a small amount of alarm. Blue continues further into the house, comes to the reading room, only to find it closed. She can hear voices inside, her mom's, Persephone's, a deep male voice she doesn't recognize. They are too quiet, too muffled for her to make out what they are saying, but the timbre is serious. 

 She throws her backpack on her bed and travels back down the stairs, quiet, to match the house, to sit on the last stair. She waits for nearly an hour, and is surprised when the door opens, and Adam Parrish, still in uniform, is the first person to emerge. He doesn't notice her until Col. Allen, followed by her mother and Persephone, enter the hallway. He looks at her for a moment, the same blank face as this morning in the gym, and she feels the strange urge to apologize to him, though she doesn't know why or what for. Another moment passes with them regarding each other in silence before Adam spins on his heel, mutters 'excuse me' and hurries out the door. 

 Col. Allen makes as though he is going to follow him, but Persephone places her hand on his arm, shakes her head, and leaves them behind to go after Adam herself. When she is gone, Col. Allen sighs, loudly, and looks down at Blue. 

 'Pvt. Sargent,' He greets her, raises a brow when she doesn't rise to salute or stand at attention. 

 'What the heck happened?' Blue asks her mother, totally ignoring what amounts to her commanding officer. Former commanding officer, she won't be at PT tomorrow.

 'Dean thinks Adam would benefit from being removed from his home, he's asked us if we would foster him,' Maura explains. 

 Blue's first thought is that her mother just called her CO by his first name, which felt all kinds of weird and wrong.

 Her second thought was remembering that her mother and the other adult women in her household were approved foster parents, something they had done in case there was an emergency and one of the kids in her extended family needed to stay with them. 

 Her third thought, was not so much a thought, as it was a feeling; relief.

 'He appears reluctant to leave his home, however, and we are having some difficulty in convincing him to report his parents.' Col. Allen says, his voice monotone, 'Either way, I'll be reporting them to CPS. And if they have any goddamned brains they'll remove him.'

 'Adam must have hated that, he hates having choices taken from him,' Blue found herself saying. She knew it was the right thing, but she still felt herself getting a little angry on Adam's behalf.

 Adam had hated it, had come back inside and told them all, in a controlled voice and through gritted teeth, that he hated it. Then, he had turned and left. He had hated it, but a month later he was standing in the attic of Blue's house, a duffel bag over his shoulder and a box held with both hands. He was currently holding everything he owned.

 'Do you hate me?' Blue asks him, a little afraid of the answer.

 'No,' He sighs, puts down his box in the middle of the floor, his duffel bag next to it, and walks over to join her on his new bed. 'I hate that it happened. I hate that it's not how I wanted it to happen.'

 'I know,' Blue says, and leans her head on his shoulder.

 

 

 Adam stays in JROTC, though Blue does not, and he stays in Blue's home. They awkwardly date for a whole two weeks in Junior year before they call it a mistake and then spend three months awkwardly avoiding each other. Blue gets a job working in peoples lawns, Adam gets a job at a mechanics. Blue gets a second job walking dogs, Adam gets a second job at a factory. Blue get a third job waiting tables at a grungy diner whose main clientele is unfortunately students from the all boys boarding school. Adam does not get a third job, though he does join three other clubs; Student Government, Yearbook, and Robotics.

 Adam gets other friends, like Mike and Gabrielle and Jerome and Javier from JROTC. Blue is friends with Adam, and that's enough for her, for now. The rest of the Mountain View High School population are not people that Blue particularly cares to become friends with. Adam gets other friends, and Blue does not, and they remain best friends. 

 On a warm day in late fall during their Junior year (and four months after things go back from being awkward), Blue finds Adam sitting on the front porch, an unopened letter in his hands. Blue, immediately, knows what it is. Adam has been waiting for this letter for as long as she has known him. She sits next to him, and he hands her the letter. It's from the Air Force Academy.

 'Open it,' She tells him, handing the unopened letter back, 'Oh my god, open it.'

 He does. She watches as his eyes darts over the page, as his mouth moves silently along to the words he is reading. He is tense, and his expression shows it. He doesn't look relieved or happy, but he also doesn't look sad or disappointed when he hands her the letter again.

 'You're going to the zoo,' She breathes after reading the first few lines. 'You're going to be a zoomie!'

 'Oh god,' Adam says, leans back until he is laying with his back on the porch, 'Oh god.'

 Blue starts laughing, and is thrilled when Adam joins her. She's a little jealous, a little proud, and a lot happy. Orla finds them out there, several minutes later, still laughing manically. She throws her hands in the air, exasperated, and yells into the house that Adam had either been accepted or else there were two very drunk teenagers on the porch at 4 in the afternoon.

 

 

 At graduation, her mother and Jimi and Calla and Persephone, a horde of other female relatives and even Orla, cheer loudly as she crosses the stage to receive her diploma. Dean is sitting with them, a little more subdued. Her father, Artemus, is not there. She didn't really expect him to be. She isn't even disappointed. 

 Later, when Adam approaches the podium to give the Valedictorian speech, she notices him look to her. She yells 'Heck yeah, Adam!', in encouragement while their family cheers. There is a moment, when his eyes stray from them to across the audience, as though searching for something, that Blue's heart pangs. His parents didn't show. Blue had only met them a handful of times, yet this didn't surprise her any more than her own father not coming to her graduation. She has hated Adam's parents since they were 14, but she hates them a little more for this final spit in the face they have given to someone that was once their son. He isn't now, their son. Adam Parrish belongs to no one, but he has grown to love and accept her family, and has made them his. 

 They take photos all together, in their gowns, holding their diplomas, Maura orchestrating them all, telling them to look this was and that, stand this way and that way, do this and that. Adam goes along with it, and Blue does as well. She doesn't know when or if she'll ever have another opportunity to take graduation photos. When her third and final rejection letter came, Adam had pulled her up to his attic bedroom, handed her a can of beer (where he got it she never knew) and proceeded to give her a list reasons why the schools that rejected her were out of their fucking minds. 

 'You could come to Colorado,' Adam says when they fold themselves into the piece of shit car Adam had bought last winter after satisfying Maura's picture taking demands.

 'And do what?' Blue asks, not looking at him, choosing instead the familiar view out the passenger window as they drive from the school back to Fox Way.

 'I don't know,' Adam says, and she can instinctively feel his shrug, 'work? There are lots of colleges near Colorado Springs. Mountains, too. Nature. The air is good.'

 'There's work and mountains and nature and air  _here_ ,' Blue scoffs, 'There are even colleges in Virginia, I should know, they rejected me.'

 'Sure,' Adam concedes, 'And your family too. But, don't you want to get out?'

 'Not like you,' Blue says. She finally looks at him, at his hands gripped on the steering wheel. 'I'm gonna miss you real bad, Adam Parrish.'

 He looks back at her for a moment, and his face is pinched. They continue, in silence for a long while, past the old factory where two shiny cars sit, past the gas station where Adam had bought her candy when they tried dating, past the corner where they broke up. They drove past all these little places that had meant something, where they had done something and it felt like the last time. Because they wouldn't need to take this path to school again. This was their last trip home. When they pulled up to the curb, they sat there, in a comfortable silence, in their silly robes.

 'I'm gonna miss you too, Blue Sargent.' Adam murmured. 

 'It sucks,' Blue says, allowing frustration to creep into her voice, 'Because we don't even get the summer, you leave, what? In three weeks?'

 'Almost four,' Adam corrects, 'And I won't be back until Winter break.'

 'It sucks' Blue repeats.

 'It sucks,' Adam echos, 'But you could come with me.'

 'Are we co-dependent?' Blue asks, her nose scrunching at the idea. 

 'Nah,' Adam drawls, 'Not at all.'

 

 

 Blue goes to Colorado.

 This surprises no one, least of all herself. Adam just smirks when she announces her decision, three whole days before he is set to leave, and proceeds to help her pack away her life. Maura waltzes in an hour later, sees them loading her clothes in trash bags, tsks, walks away, and come back with two suitcases in tow.

 'I figured you would need these, so I bought them at the last swap meet,' She says, making a vague hand gesture. 'You should look into finding a place to stay.'

 'I already have,' Blue tells her, 'Its not exactly near the Academy, the opposite really, but it's in good walking distance to plenty of potential places to get a job. I already talked to the land lord, my rent starts tomorrow and I've already sent out a dozen job applications. I also have three months of living expenses saved.'

 Beside her, Adam whistles lowly, obviously impressed. Maura, however, looks slightly disgruntled.

 'Furniture?' She asks.

 'Pshaw,' Blue says dismissively, 'I can sleep on the floor.'

 'You're going to Colorado?' Orla says, suddenly popping her head in the door. Blue nods, her eyes daring Orla to say something nasty about that. 'Sweet. They just legalized pot.'

 Blue splutters at that, and Maura doesn't try at all to hide her laughter as she guides Orla down the hall, possibly to tell everyone else she was leaving. Adam places a hand on her shoulder, and when she looks up at him, he is very poorly containing his own laughter. Traitor.

 

 

 She settles surprising quickly into life in Colorado Springs. Her tiny apartment is noisy, and terrible, and the paint is chipped, and she only gets 10 minutes of hot water in the morning, but. She loves it. Its hers, and she loves it. She doesn't see Adam for six weeks, and it is the longest she has gone without seeing him in the four years they have known each other, and it's weird. 

 Her neighbor, however, distracts her. He is older than her, by a good seven years, and odd. He jokes about death, and plays with her hair, and helps her find a good paying job at the marijuana dispensary he works at. When she calls home, and they hear where she works, the room erupts in cackles. Blue hangs up.

 When Adam's time in BCT is up, they still don't see each other too often. He still has to study, and train, and she has work, and the mountains call her away to hike nearly every weekend, but they make it work. Besides, she didn't really go to Colorado for Adam, although they are the only two who believed it. She came for herself. For the newness, for the way she could, maybe, create her only little world here. She is here to forge her own path, and Adam being here is an added bonus. And maybe she wouldn't have chosen this place if Adam weren't here, but, well. Her best friend being nearby is a pretty great added bonus.

 Fall arrives, and the change in season brings snow. Noah, her neighbor, teaches her how to snowboard, and Adam joins them on several occasions. After one of these snowboarding lessons that Adam joined, the three of them tumble back into Blue's apartment. Blue has seen the way Adam has been distracted all day, so she nudges him once, twice, a third time.

 'What?' He huffs, rubbing at his bicep where she had been nudging him.

 'Something's bothering you,' Blue says.

 'Someone?' Noah interjects from where he is laying on the floor across from them. Blue still hasn't got any furniture, which she is fine with.

 'One of the other cadets,' Adam says, pauses to grimace, and continues, 'She's the daughter of the Congresswoman who gave me my nomination.'

 'Shit,' Noah laughs.

 'Also,' Adam continues, 'Her brother went to Aglionby.'

 'Shit,' Blue mutters. She knew what Aglionby boys were like, and could guess that their sisters weren't much better. 'Is she an asshole to you?'

 'Nah,' He says, 'It's just weird.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CAVU - Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited is the ideal conditions for flying.  
> JROTC - Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. The HS equivalent to the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps), the JROTC involves classes in U.S Military History, First Aid, military map reading and more. You can receive a scholarship for being in the JROTC.  
> SAI - Senior Army Instructor, they are retired officers that basically well... instruct. There is also an AI, or Army instructor, who is a retired enlisted officer.  
> PT - Physical Training and/or physical fitness team.  
> Cadet Private/Cadet Sergeant - Ranks within the JROTC that work in the same way as U.S military ranks.  
> Ret. - Retired.  
> Col. - Colonel.  
> PVT. - Private, lowest rank in JROTC.  
> CO - commanding officer.  
> CPS - Child Protective Services.  
> Zoo - Nickname for the Air Force Academy  
> Zoomies - Refers to those both in the Air Force, graduates of the Zoo, and Cadets at the academy.  
> BCT - Basic Cadet Training. Six weeks of training you undergo your first summer at the Air Force Academy. If you know what Basic is like in any branch of the military, its basically (lol) like that.  
> Nomination - To be eligible to be appointed to the Air Force Academy, you must first receive a nomination from: 1. One of your states U.S Senators or U.S Representatives. 2. The Vice President of the United States. 3. Military Affiliated (President, children of Medal of Honor recipients, children of deceased or disabled veterans, etc.,). 4. U.S Territory, such as the Governor of Puerto Rico, or the delegate to the House of Representatives from Guam, D.C, etc,. And, 5. International nominations, for non-U.S citizens and which come from your country.  
> Bravo Lima Uniform Echo - BLUE.


	2. Call Sign: Magician

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Warnings; Alcohol use, mildly violence due to war, minor character death(s),

Helen Gansey is 19 when she gets her first pilots license. She knew since her first lesson that flying would be her life's greatest love, and the pride she feels at being able to fly this machine, this helicopter, is wonderful. For a year, she thinks it would be enough to simply fly her helicopter, maybe learn to fly a Cessna or a single prop plane. But it's not. At 21, she has left university and she receives her nomination to the Air Force Academy from one of her mothers fellow Congressmen. 

 Dick is surprised, or not, she loves him but is never sure if she can truly read him, when she calls to give him the news. He says nothing for several long moments, and then asks what their mother thought of her leaving to join the Air Force. 

 'She was thrilled,' She laughs, 'Obviously.'

 And her mother had been. Had talked about how well it would look for her daughter to be in the military. And then she and father had discussed possible positions in analysis and personnel and intelligence, and she had smiled along. All the while, she had been thinking about flying.

 'It would look good,' Dick sighs, 'What with her re-election campaign happening next year. And you seem happy, which is good. I- good God Lynch, what have you got there?'

 There are several sounds leaking through her phone from where Dick is, and not many of them are distinct enough for her to make out what they are. She can hear Dick's friend Ronan muttering through the line, and Dick's muffled voice answering him. There's a cry, like from a wounded animal, or a dying person, or a wailing infant. There isn't much else coming through.

 'Sorry, Helen,' Dick huffs, after a minute, 'I've got to go, Ronan has just done something utterly preposterous. I'll call you back soon, bye.'

 Helen smiles as she looks at her phone, after they both hang up, and shakes her head. Ronan is preposterous, but then, so is Dick.

 

 

 It's several months after that she meets Adam Parrish. She thinks very little of him at first, other than that he is a bit of a gunner, but she can appreciate the fact he isn't a total asshole, or cocky, like half their classmates. Mostly, she doesn't notice him. They talk, sometimes, when their joint classes require it, and sometimes even when they don't. But Helen runs in one circle of cadets, and Adam in another. Then, she discovers Adam is from Virginia, and suddenly, she notices him.

 'Where in Virginia?' She asks, interjecting herself into the conversation she has overheard between Cadets Parrish and Kobayashi. 

 'Tiny place no one has ever heard of, on the border of West Virginia,' He answers, shrugging. 

 'Try me,' She challenges. Thanks to Dick, she has flown all around the Virginia countryside in that area of the state. Aerially, she knows it like the back of her hand.

 'Henrietta,' Adam tells her, and she feels a triumphant smile spread across her face. 

 'I know Henrietta,' Helen says, 'My brother went to school there. Aglionby?'

 'Oh,' Adam says. It isn't a pleasant 'oh', nor is it a harsh 'oh'. It is, however, a rather judgmental sort of 'oh'.

 'Is that where you're from in Virginia?' Cadet Kobayashi asks, reminding Helen that the other girl was still there. 'Your mom's a Senator or something from there, right?'

 'No,' Helen says, waves a hand dismissively, 'My mother is a congresswoman from Virginia, but not that district. We come from further north, around the D.C area.'

 'Your mother is Representative Gansey?' Adam asks, obviously startled.

 Helen wonders how he didn't already know, the accusations of nepotism that had swirled around her entrance to the academy had not exactly been whispered. She felt an almost constant need to correct them; it wasn't nepotism, it was cronyism.  

 'Yes,' She replies, and doesn't like the way Adam's face takes on a blank expression afterwards. She is about to ask him whats wrong when their instructor strides through the door, bringing an end to all conversation.

 

 

 Later, when they both enter the smaller classes in the aeronautical engineering major, they become something like friends. She learns that her mother was the one who gave him his nomination. He learns about the dinner plate fiasco at mothers birthday two years ago. She meets Blue, and Noah, and he meets her friends Abigail and Warren. He tells her about his parents, and his found family, and she tells him about her brother.

 Twice, she invites him to join her at home over winter break, and twice he refuses. He does, however, join her for a few days one spring, and she is disappointed that Dick is off on one of his larks, and isn't there to meet him. Somehow, she believes they would get along like a house on fire. 

 Weeks, then, turn to months. And months, to years. In a flash, their time at the academy is over, and then they are graduating. After the parade, a handful of now former cadets gather in a nearby bar, discussing where they intend to go, what their chances of getting into any of the spots on their dream sheet is.

 'I want to be stationed at Edwards,' Adam says.

 'Test pilot?' Helen asks, intrigued. She had thought that Adam had wanted to be a fighter pilot.

 He nodded in answer, and Helen thought about how fun it would be, in California, testing the latest advancements in aeronautics. It sounded dangerous, it sounded thrilling.

 

 

 A year later, they aren't in Edwards. Instead, they are flying Raptors in a sortie over enemy territory when Adam's wingmate is shot down. It hurts, it hurts Adam, it hurts Helen, it hurts the whole squadron. It really fucking hurts when her husband sends letters to each of them, thanking them for the matching tats the squadron gets later, wings and his wife's name. Adam holds his letter in his hands, his face blank, and his eyes red. Helen settles next to him, and they sit there, in silence, for a long time.

 Unfortunately, Yolanda isn't the last person they watch fall from the sky, and two more sets of wings, and two more names, Hunter and Omar, are added to the bodies of the surviving squad members before the six month war is over. Politicians shake hands, and congratulate each other for how quickly it ended, and her squad members get drunk in a bar to try and forget. 

 It's only after the war, that she and Adam find themselves finally at Edwards, testing planes. A month goes by, and then a year, and then Adam nearly dies when his jet goes up in flames on the runway.

 'Magician,' She says later, shaking her head and calling him by the call sign he had first gotten at their naming back when they were just barely no longer cadets, 'You should get re-named to Lucky.'

 'Trojan,' He says, smiling and calling her the call sign she had gotten because her name was Helen, 'That ain't luck, that's magic.'

 Helen throws her head back and laughs, knowing that wicked grin Adam has will be someone's, somewhere's, utter undoing.

 

 

 'Are you career, Gansey?' Adam suddenly asks one day, when the two of them are strolling through Tokyo. They aren't here for long, only for a few days before they travel on to Germany for a month long training course, but neither one wanted to miss out on exploring the city.

 'Probably,' Helen says, pausing at a vending machine to see what it held. She put in a few coins, and punched a random drink button. 'Mother want's me to become a General, or Chief of Staff, even.'

 'So nothing too ambitious,' Adam replies sarcastically. He smiles when she makes a disgruntled face at the taste of her drink. It is decidedly something with too many vegetables.

 'Hah, no, not too ambitious,' Helen grumbles, 'What about you? Do you see yourself as a future General Adam Parrish?'

 'No, I-' Adam hesitates, which is rare enough that Helen lets her smile fade. He takes a shuddering breath, continues, 'I applied for the NASA program.'

 'Oh my God,' Helen mutters, 'NASA?'

 'NASA,' Adam sighs. 'Tell me I'm not crazy for doing it?'

 'Not crazy, just- wow, an astronaut?' She asks. There were rumors of whispers of a recruitment program, something like NASA had never done before, looking for pilots for some new project. It had been something Helen dismissed, but perhaps shouldn't have.

 'An astronaut,' Adam says, laughs.

 'Why? I though you wanted to be a test pilot?' Helen says, smacking his bicep lightly, though she doesn't quite know why.

 'Don't laugh,' He said, his expression serious. He waited for her to cross her heart before continuing, 'When I was a kid, my favorite toy was a Transformer robot. I know they are usually on Earth or whatever, but I used to pretend that I could fly it up into space in it, battle Decepticons and all that shit. I've always wanted to be a pilot, and I thought it would be, not enough, it is enough, more than enough but. But it's  _NASA_ , Helen. It's  _space_.'

 'Adam Parrish: Astronaut. It has a nice ring to it,' She admits.

 'Well, I haven't made it yet, they probably won't even accept me,' Adam argues.

 

 

 Two months later, the news comes in. Adam has indeed been selected to begin astronaut training. 

 Adam himself tells her this over the phone, as she is currently across the country in D.C for a ceremony that just happens to coincide with a visit home. He sounds excited over the line, and Helen asks him if he has told Blue, if he has been able to contact her where she is in South America.

 'Yes,' He laughs, 'The connection wasn't great, but she knows. I think she might be happier than I am.'

 'Parrish,' She says, an idea striking her, 'How long before you head to Texas?'

 'A few weeks,' He answers.

 'Perfect,' She says, 'Come to D.C, we'll have a party. I bet I could have Blue on a plane here in... where is she... Bogota? It would take maybe 2 hours.'

 'Don't be ridiculous, Gansey,' Adam scoffs. 

 'I am never ridiculous, Captain Parrish.' She says, putting as much faux sternness as she can into her voice. 'C'mon, lets do it. I have the next week of, you can stay with me and then spend the next week or two with your family, it'll be great.'

 'Fine,' Adam huffs after several long moments, 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot.'

 'see you soon,' She laughs, 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU, and the battle mentioned is neither one that has happened, nor takes place in any war the U.S is actually involved in, but rather in an entirely fictional conflict.
> 
> Alpha Mike Foxtrot... is uh... 'Adios, Mother Fxxxer'.


	3. Angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had this chapter written back in May but I never posted it 'cause I suuuuuuck~!  
> This is a soft chapter, sorry not sorry.

 

 Ronan Lynch meets Air Force Captain Adam Parrish, bedecked in ribbons and medals that Ronan doesn't know the significance of, at a Gansey party. His uniform is blue, his eyes are blue, and his not-wife-but-maybe-girlfriend's name is Blue. How poetic.

 Ronan had been staying with Gansey on a whim, the two of them choosing to spend a few weeks together before Gansey went off to Romania on an archaeological dig. Or was he tracking down Dracula lore? He couldn't remember if it had been one or the other or if the Romania trip were both things, combined, somehow.

 Then Helen had arrived in a perfectly coiffed whirlwind and informed them at dinner that her friend, Adam Parrish, would be staying with them before he, apparently, went off to be an astronaut. Gansey was thrilled, he had heard so much about this Parrish from Helen, and her parents snatched on what would be good publicity. Ronan just felt bored. And thought about vampires.

 The next day, they were congregated in the garden with a few dozen Gansey guests when a man and... possibly a child, or very short woman approached, and the man in blue called 'Gansey!'. Helen and Gansey turned at the same time, though the two new arrivals both approached Helen, who shook hands with the man and hugged the girl.

 'Dick,' Helen called, waving at them, 'Ronan, come meet Captain Parrish!'

 Helen introduces them, and Gansey has bribed him well enough that he is fairly pleasant, and then Gansey calls the girl 'Mrs. Parrish'.

 'What?' She says, after a moment where she had just blinked before her eyes narrowed. Parrish seemed to be somehow suppressing both a laugh and a groan.

 'Oh, apologies, I just assumed,' Gansey says, easily. He turns to Parrish as though the moment is over, but the girl is having none of it.

 'Adam is my friend, nothing else, and the fact you would insinuate, would simply assume, otherwise is insulting,' The girl says.

 'Blue,' Parrish says, 'let it go.'

 'Well, why don't we discuss this over here,' Helen laughs, when Blue, he assumes that is her rather impractical name, glares venomously up at Adam. She takes Blue and Gansey both by the arm and leads them away, calling over her shoulder,  'Magician, go work some magic!'

 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot!' Adam calls back, chuckles when she replies with the same strange words. 

 When they are gone, Ronan doesn't quite know what to do with Parrish, doesn't know if he is expected to play host, if he should go around the party introducing him or something. He doesn't know what to do, so he does the first thing he thinks of, and asks, 'Magician?'

 'My call sign,' He answers, and he must be used to being asked the meaning, which Ronan is about to do, because he tells him, 'First week I'm on base after leaving the Academy, I'm with the other FNGs when we get the call to head up to intercept a bogey. The weather is perfect, best conditions you could ask for when flying, and I make a joke that it's probably about to rain. The bogey was nothing, just a mistake on the radar, but as we head back to base, boom. Clouds appear outta nowhere and rain starts pouring down.'

 'So its mocking you?' Ronan asks.

 Adam shrugs in answer, and gives him a wicked grin. Ronan doesn't really know what to think when his mind blanks upon seeing that grin, and chooses to ignore it.

 

 

 The day drags on and on, and Ronan has to deal with Adam being funny, and too polite, and too much, just, in general. Ronan doesn't fall for guys easily, never has. Love at first sight is bullshit. But, if Ronan wanted to, he thinks he could fall for Adam Parrish.

 After the Gansey party is officially over, they are left with just themselves; Adam, and Ronan, Gansey and Helen, Blue and Noah. The latter, Ronan learns, is something like a marijuana entrepreneur who arrived late to the party. He got into the business early and now makes enough money to bankroll Blue's eco-warrior conservation enterprise. Ronan isn't sure exactly what she does, but Gansey seems fascinated, for some disgusting reason.

 At some point in the evening, Adam had set aside his jacket and loosened his tie, and Ronan doesn't know whether to be happy or disappointed. Happy, because Adam has great arms, and the jacket hides that. Or disappointed, because Ronan had just discovered a new bullshit uniform... well, not kink. But it was definitely a _thing_.

 They spend the night getting to know each other, all of them trading ridiculous but true stories, and secrets, and dreams. They greet the morning together, and, silently, Ronan wishes this particular night had never ended.

 

 

The week Parrish spends in the Gansey house goes by slowly, which is surprising. Ronan had thought, with the first pang of interest in the other man, that a week with Adam Parrish would go by too quickly. Instead, they spend long hours together, and short hours apart.

 The week ends with an exchange of phone numbers and a promise to call.

 The next week, Ronan is in Henrietta, VA, with Gansey, visiting Adam and Blue. Ronan suspects they are both there for similar reasons.

 Ronan Lynch does not believe in love at first sight, but he thinks that after a week, he chose to fall in love with Adam Parrish. 

 

 

 They call and text and Ronan writes letters he doesn't send. And then Adam says something during one of their once weekly, but currently daily, phone calls and Ronan had just. Wanted to see him so badly. He hangs up half an hour later, runs a hand over his head where his hair used to be, says 'Fuck it' under his breath, and starts packing.

 'Holy shit,' Adam laughs when he pulls up to his house in Huston and exits his car the next day. The setting sun has turned the smog in the sky every shade between orange and pink. Adam Parrish's smile was the brightest thing for miles.

 'You could sound happier,' Ronan complains, the last words muffled from where his mouth is pressed to Adam's shoulder, who is hugging him tightly.

 'Holy shit,' Adam repeats, more emphatically. He squeezes Ronan just a bit more tightly before releasing him, 'The house looks like crap.'

 'Like I care,' Ronan says, and Adam grabs his hand, even though it is impractical as they grab his bags from the trunk and stride to his home, even as Adam had to open the door with a bag in one hand, even as Adam gives him a quick tour of the moving boxes strewn house. 

 Adam does, eventually, let go of his hand. But it's to kiss him, and so Ronan barely misses it.

 

 

 Weeks and months go by, and Ronan visits when he can. Gansey comes along once, because Blue happens to be visiting as well and they try hard to hide their shared interest but fail so horrendously, Ronan laughs about it for weeks. Gansey comes along another time, even without the prospect of Blue, and tries to hide his glee at his and Adam's relationship with witty complaints, and he fails so horrendously that Ronan feels warm inside for weeks.

 'Y'know,' Adam mumbles into his chest one morning, during his third visit that month, '1,300 miles is an awful long drive.'

 Ronan hums his agreement, distracted by the tuft of hair on Adam's head that refuses to lay flat, despite Ronan's patting. Ronan wants to lick his palm and use it to smooth the hair down, like his mother used to do to his own hair, but the morning is too peaceful for an action that Ronan knows will devolve into play fighting. Though, he thinks, if the play fighting devolves into making out, or more, it might be worth it.

 'And that's just one way,' Adam continues, looking up at Ronan and dislodging his hand.

 'Well,' Ronan sighs, 'I don't mind.'

 Adam looks disappointed with his answer, so Ronan shifts to look at him better. There's a crease on his cheek from his pillow, and his brow is just the slightest bit furrowed. 

 'Are you telling me you want me to stop coming so often?' Ronan asks, his voice lower, hoping it wasn't true. He would, if he were distracting Adam from his work or if Adam needed more private time. He could cut back on his visits. Hell, Adam didn't even need a reason, he just would, no questions asked. It would be fucking painful, but he would understand.

 'Christ, no,' Adam grumbles, turning and sitting up. Adam tugs at his hair and throws a glance at him before steadfastly looking to where his own hands are clasped around his bent knees. 

 'I really don't mind the drive,' Ronan insists, sitting up as well.

 'Do you want to move in together?' Adam blurts, still looking at his clasped hands. 'I know it's asking a lot-'

 'Adam-'

 'I know you have a whole life in Virginia-'

 'Adam-'

 'And, fuck, like it's okay to say no, I would understand-'

 'Baby-'

 'Shit, it's just, I really want you to and-'

 ' _Adam_ ,' Ronan says, a tightness to his voice he doesn't recognize. He covers Adam's hands with one of his and ducks down to Adam's eye line, forcing him to see him, goofy grin and pink cheeks and all. 'Adam, baby, I'm trying to say yes.'

 'Oh,' Adam breaths, staring at him, his mouth slowly shifting to mirror Ronan's goofy grin.

 'Yeah,' Ronan says, and then he doesn't say anything for a long time, because Adam is kissing him, and he is kissing Adam.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FNG - Fucking New Guys/Girls
> 
> Everybody always falls in love so quickly in my fics, but I dooon't caaaaare!!!  
> You can scream at me about the use of pet names all you want, I doooon't caaaaare!!!  
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. See You Space Cowboy...

 Adam Parrish had been born in the dust, had once called it home, and had risen above it. Dreams went to die, if they had even been allowed to be born, at the trailer park off Antietam Lane. But he had been a boy there, and he had seen the possibilities that were waiting beyond the dirt road leading to the trailer park thanks to the 22 inch television in the cramped living room. Those 22 inches had given him a peek at the  _other_ that was out there. Other places, other ideas, other ways of living that were never so much as whispered about by the few dozen people that called the trailer park home. It started there, the dreaming, the fantasizing. But the planning came in middle school, during Career Day.

 Neither of his parents had come, which was neither a surpirse nor a disappointment, but a relief. Amelia Burkhart's mom had come, and while she told the class about the far off places the Navy had sent her (Japan and France and Panama and other countries he hadn't even  _heard_ about before), Adam pictured himself in those places, far far away from the trailer park off Antietam Lane. He didn't raise his hand in class often, but he did that day, asking Amelia's mom no less than three questions about what she had done and how she had done it.

 Between middle school and high school he had switched his preferred branch from the Navy to the Air Force, imagining the feeling of freedom that flying must give. And so, he mapped out his plan, he entered high school, he joined JROTC, he worked his ass off. He got out.

 Dreams went to die at the trailer park off Antietam Lane, but he dreamed and he planned and he worked and he got out. And he never looked back.

 

 

 

 Houston is hot for 100 days a year, and hot as hell for the other 265. Ronan complains for all 365 of them, as though he hadn't spent his life in the heat of Virginia.

 'It's not the same,' Ronan insists, pressing himself into Adam's side on the couch like he always does after he comes back from being gone, this time a week at the Kennedy Space Center doing pre-launch PR. Like Adam himself does when its Ronan that has been gone.

 Adam hums in acknowledgement, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the statement. In truth, he was more than a little distracted by the movie they were supposed to be watching, "Apollo 13". Ronan had suggested it as a joke for one of their last movies before Adam was set to leave again to Florida for the launch next month, but when Adam admitted to never having seen it, it became a serious suggestion.

 He thinks maybe Ronan regrets the suggestion. He keeps trying to distract himself from the movie by trying to distract Adam by complaining about the weather and asking about Noah and running his hands up Adam's thigh every so often. Adam wants to comfort him, because he knows Ronan can't or won't just admit to being worried, so he keeps the film on and keeps watching. Because he knows the Apollo 13 astronauts came home and he wants to somehow assure Ronan that he'll do the same.

 An hour later, when he says this to Ronan while the latter is hovering over him, grinding his hips into Adam's, he scoffs, once. Rolls his eyes dramatically and says, 'I'm not worried, dumbass, I'm horny. Of course you're going to be fine.'

 Adam wonders if this, too, is Ronan distracting himself, but Ronan is kissing his jaw in that way that always makes his brain muddled, so he lets it go.

 

 

 

 It's a week before they are supposed to leave on their mission, and Adam watches from the kitchen window into the backyard, where Henry Cheng, the flights engineer, is chatting with Noah. Where Gansey and Gansey and Declan are arguing over the grill. Where Matthew drags some of their friend's and family's kids into a game of tag, even though the backyard is barely big enough for it. Where Blue and Nadia Patel, the flight commander and travel enthusiast, are swapping stories about their adventures in South America.

 Ronan comes up behind him, places his chin on his shoulder, and watches with him. They stand like that for a long time, watching and just. Being with each other. 

 'Hey,' Ronan says, speaking low enough that his voice barely breaks the silence of the moment, 'When you get back, will you marry me?'

 Adam feels himself smile. He reaches up, curls his hand at the base of Ronan's neck, and sighs, 'Yes.'

 It's not a candlelight dinner or soft violin music or roses or rain splattering down around them or one of them about to board a flight to Paris. It's them, it's real, it's simple. It's the knowlegde that this was an eventuality, something that was always going to happen, that one of them just had to find the moment to do it. 

 Ronan reaches around him, squeezes him tightly, and Adam can feel the smile on his lips as he presses them against his neck.

 And it's so much better than violins or rain or roses.

 

 

 

 Adam sits, strapped to his seat, listening as he runs through the launch sequence. He is methodical, as they go through the final stages of launch. He spares a moments thought, of unrestrained glee, at the realization of what he is about to do. 10 days in space. A day on the moon. He hasn't felt like a child in a long time, and he doesn't exactly feel like one now, but it's a near thing. Child-like adjacent.

 The actual launch, breaking away from the tower, the engines thrusting, the g-force, are somehow both exactly and nothing like the training. Certainly, training had not prepared him for the way the earth looked as they left it's orbit, as the literally rocketed to the moon, for the perpetual sunrise and sunset they were able to witness from the small capsule window. 

 

 

 

 'It really is like a glass marble,' Henry says, after they shut down the camera from one of the educational videos they had to shoot, broadcasted simultaneously to over a thousand schools throughout the U.S.

 Adam doesn't say anything to that, but he agrees non the less. It had been something he had always heard, but didn't quite believe until he saw it for himself, not through a camera lens, but with his own eyes.

 'I could have told you that, Cheng,' Patel laughs.

 'Nobody needs to hear you brag about how many trips to the ISS you've made,' Henry scoffs, 'How does your wife put up with it?'

 'Misty,' Patel hums, 'finds my bragging hot.'

 Adam laughs at the annoyed look that Henry shoots her, laughs harder when Henry amps up the annoyed look to ten and turns it on him.

 

 

 

 The first step on the moon is nerve-wracking, which he hadn't expected. It is also thrilling, which he had. Nadia is ahead of him, speaking, saying somethung monumental and important, but Adam can't hear her. Well. He can hear her, his brain is just too busy experiencing the gravity of the moon and the sensation of being on the goddamned  _moon_ to really process it. They plant a flag, take an enormous amount of video and pictures and scientific readings and samples for research. It's all over too soon, and they are back in the ship. 

 In the back of Adam's mind, as they circle around the moon, collecting more data and video and pictures, as they move closer, finally, to Earth, Adam felt another sort of thrill. He was going home. 

 He wished he could go back, to ten year old or fifteen year old or twenty year old Adam and tell him that someday, there would come a time when going home was a relief, and not some dreaded monster of an idea that was to be avoided at all cost.

 Going home now meant Blue calling from a payphone in Argentina, Richard Gansey on the line with her, talking over eachother as they talk about what they've done and seen and the natural beauty they tried to save along the way.

 Going home meant Noah offering, for the thousandth time, to make him a partner in his "alternative" medicine empire, and Adam never knowing if it was a long standing joke or an earnest offer, and that being part of the charm.

 Going home meant Gansey, in her flight gear, teasing him about a landing that almost went wrong, and both of them being too drunk and mocking politicans and commanding officers and members of the other brances of the military.

 Going home meant Ronan, amd getting to marry gim and maybe getting the cat that Ronan kept hinting about wanting to adopt and a peace that came with knowing he had found his person. Home meant Ronan, softly tracing the names and wings tattooed on his shoulder. It meant him telling Ronan about Yolanda and the others. It meant quiet nights and loud days and everything in between.

 Home was Ronan, complaining about the weather and the movie they were watching and the fact that they didn't have a cat or dog and the way the shower water got too cold too soon.

Home was Ronan, and the dreams they whispered in the early morning, before dawn arrived. Dreams that had once seemed impossible, when he had dreamed them in front of a 22 inch television in a double wide trailer just off Antietam Lane. But with Ronan, who was made of impossible stuff, made those dreams seem like less of a dream and more of an attainable goal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> Real talk, I had no idea how to end this, and wanted it to be with Adam and Ronan getting married and maybe getting a cat named Flufflestiltskin and maybe adopting Opal and maybe Adam staying with NASA and maybe a Blusey wedding and maybe Czenry getting together. But it would just be way too long. However! If you like this au and want to see any of those things, shoot me a comment or send me a message on my tumblr at daleyposts 🖒🖒


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